Battle for Camelot (Human-Covenant War)
|date = February 17th-February 23rd 2552|place = *Avalon **Camelot|result = * Pyrrhic Victory|side1 = |side2 = Covenant|commanders1 = *Imran Sachin *Ava Grieve *Ernamuse Redmane *Merlin|commanders2 = *Minor Prophet *Unknown Sangheili Shipmaster *Sar'yan Ing|forces1 = *At least 1 Nargal-Class Aircraft Support Carrier **UNSC Cadavar ***Maximum of 80 ***Maximum of 40 ***Maximum of 10 ***Maximum of 40 ***Maximum of 120 ***Four *One Crusader-class heavy frigate *Four Divisions *Fourteen Divisons * * ** ** ** * * *A singular *M306 MRAPs|forces2 = *Multiple ** ** ** ** ** *Ground elements ** ** ** ** **Quinol ** ***Ruutian *** ** * * * * * ** * |casual1 = *80% of ground elements *50% of air elements *Most armoured vehicles *Many transport vehicles *90% of army and marine reserve forces|casual2 = *Thirteen million invading soldiers *Two SDV-class corvettes *Most forces within the city|civilian = *Six million civilian deaths}} The Battle for Camelot took place in the early days of the year 2552, toward the end of the Fall of Avalon and was fought primarily between the & and forces within the Colony Avalon's economic and social capital, Camelot. It was the most catastrophic engagement during the Fall of Avalon with nearly six million civilian casualties and over two million military casualties. UNSC ground forces managed to extract four million surviving civilians from the city and and forces were successful in protecting fleeing civilian craft. Two whole divisions of marines were wiped out and the army elements in the city were decimated. The battle was fought down to the last building with air-force elements leveling the city with the attacking force inside using . Chronology February 17th 16:00 Camelot Provincial Time: Covenant forces breach orbital defenses over Camelot. The UNSC Nergal-class aircraft support carrier, the Cadaver ''assisted in mitigating the number of Covenant forces able to enter the city, deploying aircraft strike teams to intercept Type-52 and Type-25 troop carriers before succumbing to fire from an SDV-class heavy corvette and crashing into the River Trent. Though grounded communications equipment had survived and the bridge remained compromised by mostly undamaged. It served as a forward base for UNSC airmen during the battle. Serge Vasanta, captain of the resident military reserve unit coordinates evacuation efforts as marines and soldiers move to establish forward positions against the tide of Covenant, using abandoned vehicles, trash cans, construction materials and any other objects they can scrounge as breastwork in the streets essential to the city's defense. 20:00 CPT: Fighting has broken out across the city. UNSC Marine and Army elements operated from local command posts at Ironhill and the Gatehouse are deployed into the city and succeed in isolating the Covenant to the central districts where civilian populations have already been evacuated or killed as reserve units focus on the civilian evacuation. The evacuation efforts are thwarted by Covenant marksman and special forces teams intercepting the reserve forces as they make their way to the extraction zones. In an attempt to contain the strike teams in the outer city the defense holding a majority of the Covenant in the centre of the city collapses on the morning of the 20th with Covenant gaining ground at a worrying pace. February 20th-21st Marine and Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are deployed to strike Covenant positions nightly, eliminating high ranking Sangheili officers, clearing anti-air emplacements and eliminating Yam'ne hives, alongside these strikes Air force wings use thermal imaging and high explosives to cause massive damage to Covenant controlled sectors while Army and reserve forces struggle to evacuate civilians from the falling city day and night. Most combat in the day is quickly over with UNSC and reserve forces suffering heavy losses between the hours of 08:00am and 06:00pm. February 22nd 07:00 CPT: Come sunrise the city proper is almost completely controlled by the invaders with the air-force and marines devoting efforts to slowing the advance while civilians are ferried across the River Trent toward evacuation craft located at a UNSC firebase established in the outer-city's far west. Naval elements manage to spare a single Crusader-class frigate to eliminate the SDV-class cruiser over the city and hold in defense. In the following hours one million civilians are successfully evacuated. Following the last evacuation the Covenant rush the UNSC forces unable to cross the river who are subsequently killed while a M-145D Rhino fires upon approaching Covenant from a position on the bridge. Two hundred marines die in defense of the artillery, taking the lives of over five hundred Covenant and ensuring the deaths of many more via artillery strikes. 14:00 CPT: Just over two million civilians are evacuated as the final transport leaves and remaining army, marine and air-force soldiers focus devise a plan to level the city. Sappers begin infiltrating sewer systems, planting and arming several HAVOK class nuclear warheads under the guidance of army and marine engineers as well as air-force drone operators. Several Lekgolo, Yam'ne and Quinol are encountered and deal heavy casualties though the forces numbering up to sixteen overpower the lone attackers. A second SDV-class corvette is destroyed over the city by the defending Crusader-class. 21:00 CPT: Army and Marine engineers confirm that all warheads are in place and the warheads are detonated, leveling densely populated Covenant positions believed to be drop-zones for troop carriers in a blinding flash observed from orbit. Air force drones are knocked out of the sky by the force and the shockwave causes a collapse to most structures across the river. The ''Cadaver suffers minor damage while UNSC soldiers retreat from the city toward the Ironhill command centre. The air force conduct several final strikes on remaining targets once the force of the blast has subsided. February 23rd 03:00 CPT: Aircraft aboard the Cadaver ''are reassigned to the ''Carrion and the remaining command crew are requested to take over onboard several heavily damaged ships in orbit. Due to the loss of fighters a surplus of ordinance is available onboard the Cadaver, much of which is redirected toward the Mordred Initiative. 09:00 CPT: No structure is left intact as Covenant forces pull out of the city having suffered thirteen million casualties at the hands of the defending forces in only a week. A remarkable feat by UNSC standards. Aftermath Much of Camelot is rendered unapproachable due to high levels of residual radiation and heat left by the combined nuclear attacks. Radiation suits are distributed among the residents of Ironhill and the affects of the blasts later spread through the city. Camelot is left in ruin however is untouched by the partial glassing of the planet, following the war a former Sangheili officer present during the battle explained that it served as a reminder of failure where Covenant forces had failed to defeat a small number of battle-weary marines, airmen and soldiers. Curiously, following recolonization efforts after the war, Arthur's Casket was discovered intact and several sections of the Undercity were exposed. Category:Avalon Category:Battle for Avalon Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War Category:Human-Covenant War